1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a support device and/or holding device for musical percussion instruments, particularly for the instrument body of membranophones which acts as a resonator. The support device includes a rigid support member fastened to the instrument body and a rigid holding member which is fastened or can be fastened to a support, for example, a leg, an arm, a stand and/or a frame. A flexible connecting member is arranged between the rigid support member and the rigid holding member. The connecting member is of a non-metal material with vibration damping and/or vibration absorbing properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
A support device of the above-described type is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 33 39 397. This known support device is constructed in such a way that it not only improves the vibrating capability of the instrument body of membranophones acting as a resonator, but it also effectively prevents a transmission of vibrations between musical instruments which are connected to each other and between musical instruments and the ground on which the musical instruments are placed. This provides the advantage that, on the one hand, an improvement of the sound of the individual musical percussion instruments can be achieved while, on the other hand, it is effectively prevented that musical percussion instruments which are mounted as a group can influence each other.
In the known support device, the flexible connecting member of non-metal material with vibration damping and/or vibration absorbing properties is connected to the support member as well as to the holding member, so that these components together form a structural vibration metal unit.
Although the support devices constructed as structural vibration metal units have been found useful in practice, they cannot be used for all possible purposes for which musical percussion instruments are intended, because the entire structural vibration metal unit projects from the outer circumference of the instrument body and, thus, requires a certain amount of space which is not always available. It should be kept in mind that usually several different musical percussion instruments are combined to form a set of instruments, i.e., a so-called drum set. It must be ensured that the individual percussion instruments of the drum set can be adjusted in variable position, so that the drum set can be adapted to the individual requirements of the musicians using the drum set. Accordingly, percussion instruments to be arranged in a group must be mounted with their instrument bodies relatively closely together and, therefore, it is desirable that the support devices project as little as possible beyond the outer surface of the instrument bodies.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a support device of the above-described type which projects only insignificantly beyond the outer circumference of the instrument body of the musical instruments, while still ensuring an optimum vibration capability of the instrument body acting as resonator and effectively preventing the transmission of vibrations between musical instruments which are connected to each other and between musical instruments and the ground on which they are placed.